


running on empty (alone in a steel cold town)

by impulserun



Series: age of miracles [6]
Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-22
Updated: 2014-07-22
Packaged: 2018-02-09 22:40:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,385
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2000619
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/impulserun/pseuds/impulserun
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Snapshots of what happened in Washington.</p>
            </blockquote>





	running on empty (alone in a steel cold town)

1.

It’s not as if Cosette _doesn’t_ recognise the blond who sprints past her yelling “On your left!” for the umpteenth time in a row. She is just so utterly enraged by this insult to her running ability – she did _not_ emerge the fastest and most agile soldier of her unit for _this_ to happen when she went back home, thank you very much – that, the next time the blond blur speeds past her, she yells “Oh, _fuck off_ , you utter cock!” after his disappearing figure.

She figures out later that she cussed out Captain America when the self-same jogger walks past her resting spot. Yeah. Whoops.

“Well,” she wheezes, trying to recover from the five extra rounds she had run in her anger, “if it isn’t Sonic the Hedgehog.”

“I’m taking that as a compliment,” Enjolras Lécuyer says, and smiles.

*

She tells him about the Hallyu Wave and Broadway musicals (she has a particular fondness for _Mamma Mia!_ , okay, don’t laugh), and bites back a giggle when he pulls out a tiny black notebook filled to the brim with cramped writing.

“Does that stand for _Cutie Mark Crusaders_?” she asks, trying very hard not to laugh, when he lets her have a look at one of the pages.

“Cuban Missile Crisis, actually,” he says, flushing light red, and his affronted expression is so similar to that of an offended kitten that she _does_ burst into laughter.

*

2.

“What makes you happy?”

He doesn’t think about Feuilly, strong, sure arms now weak and trembling, smart brown hair now ruffled and grey. He doesn’t think about how he lives now, reduced to a shadow of his former self, trapped forever in an endless time loop.

He doesn’t think about Brooklyn, about wild black curls and teasing blue eyes. He doesn’t think about lazy afternoons spent lounging in their too-small apartment, watching Grantaire draw out of the corner of his eye, throwing playful jibes at each other. He doesn’t think about time spent pooling together money, hoping to save enough to catch a movie or buy something extra for dinner. He doesn’t think about birthdays spent curled up on the couch laughing with his best friend. He doesn’t think about the bitter winters they spent huddling together under a blanket. He doesn’t think about the faded portrait in charcoal that now hangs on display in the Smithsonian.

He doesn’t think about kisses stolen during wartime.

“I don’t know.”

*

3.

There’s a picture of Cosette’s mother on the mantle below the television. Without it, Cosette doubts she’d remember her face otherwise. She was so young when her mother died – all she has left of her is this photo, and Papa’s stories. But he doesn’t tell her much anyway, so yeah. The photo.

Next to it is a picture of Marius. They had taken it in Afghanistan, while they were off-duty, lounging beneath the shade of a tree.

Cosette fingers the rings she wears on a chain round her neck and makes her decision.

*

4.

“Grantaire?”

The warm blue eyes so full of life that he had known and loved are cold and dead.

“Who the fuck is Grantaire?”

*

5.

Cosette walks through the door behind a teary Eponine, stops, and stares.

“Papa?” she asks, incredulous.

“Cosette?” stammers the Director. “What are you doing here?”

“It can’t be,” Eponine mutters, almost to herself, “I saw you, your heart stopped, you were dead.”

“You were _what?_ ” shrieks Cosette.

Enjolras slowly inches towards the door.

*

In Enjolras’ defence, he hadn’t bloody known that Cosette Fauchelevent is Director Valjean’s adopted daughter. The girl’s Chinese, for crying out loud. And they had different surnames. How was he supposed to know Ultime Fauchelevent was Valjean’s civilian identity? How was he supposed to know?

*

6.

She has mostly gotten over the shock of learning that Papa – _her_ Papa – is the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D when she notices Enjolras slipping out the way they come.

She shares a glance with Eponine – one that says, simultaneously, “I’m worried about Enjolras,” and “Will you talk to him, or shall I?” – and follows him out the door.

*

“Enjolras?”

“He looked at me,” he murmurs. “He looked right at me, and he didn’t know me.”

His eyes are blue, distant and glassy. Cosette fears he may be going into shock.

“He’s going to be there, you know,” she tries, and instantly regrets it when Enjolras’ face crumples.

“I know,” he whispers, staring at the river beneath the bridge. “I know – I don’t know if I can –”

She remembers what he said in the van, sitting there with stunned eyes and a trembling lip – “Even when I had nothing, I had Grantaire.” – and, oh. In that moment, Cosette realises something. Something that America at large may never realise in the years to come.

 _Oh_.

“Enjolras?”

He turns to look at her, eyes brimming with unshed tears. Cosette pulls out her necklace. Her engagement ring. And Marius’.

“It’s okay,” she tells him. “I understand.” And, “You can cry if you want to.”

His lips tremble, his breath hitches in a sob. Tears roll down pale cheeks.

Cosette thinks of Marius and puts an arm around his shoulder.

*

7.

Eponine knows what’s on Enjolras’ mind when he turns up in his pilfered World War II uniform. He thinks the familiarity will help jog Nik – Grantaire’s memory. She’s not sure if he’s grasping at straws or if he’s just that naïve. Probably a combination of the two, she thinks.

She remembers Nikolai. She remembers being Talya. It’d be hard _not_ to – those memories were some of the only ones the Red Room allowed her to keep. After they’d put Nikolai back on ice –

She’d been a teenager then – top graduate of the Black Widow programme, but still a teenager – and they’d let some of Ni – Grantaire’s original personality bleed through. He’d acted like a brother to her – albeit, a big brother who taught her how to murder people and pick locks and took her on covert missions rather than to the movies – but. It’s easy to see why anyone would want him.

Enjolras had had _all_ of him. Eponine is just a little bit jealous.

*

8.

Enjolras wakes in the hospital, Cosette sitting on his right immersed in a book, _Mamma Mia!_ blaring out of borrowed speakers, and, when he chances a look to his left, his trusty shield resting patiently against the bed.

Enjolras draws up the memory of the Helicarrier, remembers dropping his shield through a hole in the glass, and very, very carefully files it away.

“On your left,” he croaks, feeling a burst of hope blossom in his chest.

Cosette looks up and smiles.

*

9.

“You will call me,” Cosette insists. “I do not care how many HYDRA agents you find on the plane to Europe. The moment you touch down, you will call me, and you will tell me you are okay.”  

Valjean smiles fondly and brushes a lock of hair away from his adoptive daughter’s face. It seems like only yesterday that young Fang Ting, only breaths away from dying, had begged him to take in her daughter. “If you are so worried for me, little lark,” he teases, “you can come with me to Europe. Keep me safe.”

“I was always more of a soldier than a spy, Papa.” With a soft laugh, she burrows deeper into their hug, and then, at length, she pulls herself away.

“Papa, you are all I have left. I cannot lose you too.”

“I think we both know that’s not quite true,” he tells her, nodding in Enjolras and Eponine’s direction. His darling Cosette is part of their little family now. He knows they will look after her.

*

10.

The asset stands. Watches the video. Listens to the audio playing in an endless loop. Not that the asset needs to. The asset has long since memorised its contents.

On the screen is the asset’s target. And a man with curly black hair that shares the asset’s face.

 A voice whispers in the asset’s mind. The same voice that had all but screamed _GO TO HIM GO TO HIM SAVE HIM_ at the asset on the Helicarrier as they watched Captain Enjolras Lécuyer hurtle towards the Potomac.

_Keep him safe._

The asset listens, and accepts his new mission.


End file.
